This week's update to Outlook Hotmail Connector is a follow-up to Microsoft 's 2010 move.

"Using a connection with HTTPS helps you be even more confident that your account is safer from hijackers, and that your private information remains private," the Outlook team wrote on its official blog Thursday.

The new tool encrypts communication between Outlook and the Windows Live e-mail, calendar and contacts services.

Gmail users have had the option of encrypting all Gmail traffic since 2008, but in mid-January 2010, Google enabled HTTPS by default on the same day it accused Chinese hackers of breaking into its systems and trying to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists who live in the country.

Microsoft has also updated the consumer-grade Windows Live Mail to support HTTPS. Unlike its Outlook Express predecessor, which was bundled with Windows XP, Windows Live Mail is an optional download for Vista and Windows 7 .

Outlook Hotmail Connector can be downloaded in 32-bit and 64-bit versions for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 on Windows. There is no similar tool for Outlook 2011, the e-mail program included with Office for Mac 2011.